Everglades Station Mimeo Report 62-7 September 15, 1961
A NEW SUGARCANE VARIETY, F.46-136
F. le Grand*
A new sugarcane variety is being released by the Florida Agricultural
Experiment Station. It is described in detail in Experiment Station Circular
S-133 entitled "F.46-136, An Early Maturing Sugarcane Variety" which will be
available on request at an early date.
Seed cane of F.46-136 will be available for planting during 1961 and this
mimeographed report describes the principal merits of the variety.
The variety F.46-136 is early maturing and thus has a high sugar content
during the early part of the grinding season. Early maturity is especially
important for future expansion of the sugar industry in the colder areas sit-
uated more than two miles from Lake Okeechobee. When a substantial portion of
a total sugarcane planting consists of an early maturing variety, the factory
may start grinding earlier in the season and process a portion of the cane crop
before cold weather can economically damage the entire crop. The present
commercial varieties generally have a low sugar content during the early grind-
ing period, making sugar production less economical when these canes must be
processed early to avoid cold damage.
Commercial trials with 30 acres of F.46-136 as first ratoons have shown
an average percent sucrose in cane of 14.37 on November 16, 1959 and 15.44 on
November 1, 1960. The average tonnages obtained during these years were 42.8
and 43.8 tons of cane per acre, respectively. By way of comparison, adjacent
fields with first ratoons of CL.41-223 showed an average percent sucrose of
12.86 on November 16, 1960 with an average tonnage of 40.7 tons of cane per acre.
Experience with growing F.46-136 has indicated that the sucrose content
may drop after the month of December. Therefore, the variety F.46-136 should
be planted on a limited scale to be harvested prior to January and be followed
by other varieties that will mature later.
Other early maturing varieties such as F.31-962 were grown extensively prior
to the release of CL.41-223. The variety F.46-136 has consistently out-yielded
F.31-962 in a variety experiment for plant crop, and first and second ratoons,
mainly because of better cane tonnage obtained.
Inoculation has proved that F.46-136 is resistant to mosaic disease. Favor-
able characteristics of the variety are a low fiber content, a short green top
at harvest time and the buds flat on the stalk.
The variety F.46-136 is known to be subject to infection by Ratoon Stunting
Disease (R.S.D.). Growers are therefore advised to plant seed cane free from
R.S.D. by heat treating the seed before planting for increase.
* Assistant Sugarcane Agronomist, Everglades Experiment Station, Belle Glade,
Florida
EES 62-7
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